Cairness House

When 'The Howes of Buchan' was written good views of Cairness House could be obtained as one passed through the Lomnay area. However, since 1865 there has been considerable tree planting so that the house may now only be glimpsed from certain points along the Line. A good viewpoint is just south of the bridge carrying the road to West Strathellie over the Line. Evening sun makes it easier to identify the facade of Cairness

Evening sunlight lengthens the shadows on the Line by the Strathellie  bridge 

From this point about 100 yards south of the bridge Cairness may be glimpsed through the trees . The  building, which according to 'The Howes' , 'has some pretentions both to age and beauty was built from the designs of (James) Playfair and finished in 1799. The architecture is Grecian;and it is said that above £25,000 was expended in its erection. The main structure is of greenstone, quarried in Rora; but the porch is of Cairngall granite. The building was erected by Charles Gordon, Esq of Buthlaw....The interior of the house is a perfect specimen of art'

Last spring Grey Granite was able to visit Cairness, which is currently only open to the public by arrangement. There are 42 rooms, many of which have been restored and refurnished and are of considerable grandeur.  However,  Grey Granite was most impressed by the extensive replanting of trees in the grounds. This planting replicates the original planting using trees exactly matched to the original order to Dobbie's Tree Nursery. The current owners have expended enormous time, energy and finance on the restoration of the house which incorporates numerous Masonic symbols. Behind the neoclassical frontage is a semi circular courtyard  of offices designed so that the ground plan forms CH either for Charles Gordon or Cairness House. The most astonishing feature of the house is the Egyptian Room, decorated with fake hieroglyphs where again there is Masonic symbolism and a theory that Playfair, who died whilst working on the house, is buried beneath the floor. It has also been suggested that this room was used for the Masonic meetings.

The semi circular suite of offices to the rear of the house, the entrance is below the cupola. Each of the metal chimney pots, six on each stack was replaced by the current owners.

The front of the house is quite austere, a central block flanked  with pedimented porch and imposing steps by taller pavilions. The building of the house was financed by the income from the Gordon's plantations in Jamaica.

Cortes to Rathen Station

Suddenly the vegetation along the Line is bursting into colour and the countryside is being transformed. The importance of the Line as a wildlife corridor becomes clear as mixed flocks of small birds,  often finches and  tits  are now seen in the bushes and trees along the Line. The telegraph wires which still run alongside the track bed in many places are useful vantage points on which to perch. Close to Rathen station a blackbird was singing loudly from the top branches of the sycamores. A magnificent buzzard was sitting on a fence post close to the Line at Concraigs Wood, its partner could be heard crying as it wheeled high over the wood.

Flowering current (Ribes sanguinium) a garden escape which adds colour to the line in several places.

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Rooks were nesting in these Scots Pine trees in the Howe of Concraigs, rabbits ventured  out of the gorse to the field, scurrying back as we passed. There is a mole run clearly indicated by fresh heaps of soil on the left of the picture. Grey Granite has also  seen 'Concraigs' written as 'Corncraigs' and wonders if the name has changed over the years. 

This pond on Milltown of Craigellie land was dug out or enlarged in Spring 2010 and is now well established. The wet fields round it are a favourite haunt of lapwings.

Gorse by the bridge carrying the road to Strathellie over the Line. On the warm morning (16.5c) that we walked this stretch the air was filled with the coconut scent of  gorse.

Strichen Viaduct to Howford: A Spring walk.

Crossing the viaduct at Strichen, Grey Granite was attracted by the abundance of wild flowers, wood anemones and celandines in particular, growing on the banks of the Ugie below the viaduct and went down to explore. A clearly marked footpath, reached from close to the road bridge over the Ugie, leads along the bank of the Ugie emerging at Howford Farm from where, by turning left along the farm road, the Line may easily be rejoined east of Strichen Station. Grey Granite walked back along the Line to the viaduct in bright spring sunshine.

The piers of the bridge have been colonised by grasses, dandelions and a small elder sapling. The tranquil area alongside the river is secluded and sheltered from the road above by a steep bank and trees - willow, ash, elm and beech. It can be quite wet and boggy but makes a delightful walk particularly in spring when there are often mallards on the river.

  Dense clumps of wood anemones and celandines line the banks of the Ugie

Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) a delicate white flower with a blush of pink on the underside of the petals,  also known as Wind Flower.

Howford Farm (The French Farm) seen from the Line. The track along the Ugie emerges close to the humped backed Howford Bridge (1777)  which carried the old coach road over the river just below the farm.

A replica of the original station sign has appeared on the platform at the east end of Strichen station.

The viaduct looking back towards Strichen Station. The beech, willows, sycamore and  birch trees along the Line are developing a feint haze of new green leaves, whilst ash flowers, 'delicate as flowers of grass' are also starting to open.



On a sunny embankment close to Strichen Station these, the first violets of the year, were emerging from the dry undergrowth.

Mormond Hill from the kirkyard which is to the south  of the Line just beyond the viaduct.

'Strichen which is without exception, the most attractive and picturesque spot on the whole line. Lying in a snug little valley, with the towering crest of Mormond on the one side, the limpid waters of the Ugie on the other, and embowered among trees - Strichen is, without doubt, one of the prettiest little villages in Buchan.'

From 'The Howes of Buchan' William Anderson 1865

Anderson's guide to places of interest along the route of the Buchan Railway  exaggerates the grandeur of Mormond Hill but during today's walk along  the short section of Line skirting the village Strichen lived up to his description.